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Maybe I’m not the next Olympic Archer

Good morning peeps! How are you this fine day? Hopefully safe and not getting battered around in this hideous weather.

I got caught in the rain yesterday whilst finishing off my archery course. A couple of months ago I went on my friend Polly’s hen weekend and part of the arranged and enforced fun was an afternoon’s archery session. A terrible idea for someone as competitive as I am. I don’t have to be good at things to be competitive either, it’s shocking.

Anyway, I enjoyed the archery so much that I decided to look into archery clubs in Glasgow. There are two near me, but both require new members to have completed a beginners course so I decided to sign up with MRM Archery and complete their beginner’s course at the Rowallan Activity Centre, just half an hour up the road from me. The course was held over three consecutive Sundays, running for an hour and a half each session. I found this to be a good length of time because by the end, my arm was getting pretty tired!

The course was run by Michael & Rona, and I was really chuffed with the coaching attention given to me even though there were seven people all learning and improving. By the end of the course I may not have been hitting ‘perfect 10s’ every time, but I was successfully grouping my arrows together which is something to build on.

I actually really enjoyed my course and MRM Archery do fun party events as well as the more serious courses for those intending to join clubs, so definitely keep them in mind. I had a brilliant time and I’m delighted to have passed my course – which cost £75 with all equipment provided. I’m definitely not any threat to the national & international competitors but I think it’s a sport I could get relatively good at. Now, to get my name onto a club waiting list!

My arrows are those with the two white bands on the shaft on the bottom left of the target. The two there scored 8 points each (out of a possible 10). My other arrow should be ignored, the wind caught it ;)

Rona shooting her compound bow, as Michael explains to us what the different parts do.

Horsey! Rowallan is an equestrian centre and there were loads of horses around. Each time one came by, if we noticed we had to shout “FAST” to alert the shooters so they could put down their bows & arrows. So, four of the group were lining up to shoot when a beautiful young deer leapt out of the trees at the back of our range. I tried very hard but I’m afraid it wasn’t quite the correct four letter F word that came out my mouth when I saw it…

One thought on “Maybe I’m not the next Olympic Archer”

It takes a lot of practice – I’ve been shooting archery since 1976, and If I don’t practice every week, particularly form and my shot sequence, my accuracy drops like a stone. Keep going, it’s almost a form of meditation, and far more fun than golf!